Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: How do communities deal with members who can't pay their condo fees or assessments?

[R Philip Dowds (rpdowds]

I appreciate the need to make careful discriminations among various expense 
categories according to the rules of HOAs as established by the State having 
jurisdiction.  But even within that rule set, there are always ambiguities and 
difficult choices.

Yes, a tight roof and working hot water are probably necessities, and maybe we 
can do without a process consultant.  Maybe “consensus training” is a luxury 
that only the wealthiest cohos can consider.

But at Cornerstone, we just paid “extra” for ice belting made out of copper 
instead of rubber.  And we’re about to pay “extra” for hot water tanks made out 
of stainless steel instead of copper.  Total bill in the high five figures.  
However, when it comes to the low four figures for a process consultant, well, 
that’s over the top when money is short.  An unnecessary extravagance, Yes?

But (speaking only for myself) I came here, not to learn and practice roofing, 
but to learn and practice community.  For me, copper belts are the luxuries, 
and consensus training is the necessity.

Am I getting something backwards here?

Thanks,
Philip Dowds
Cornerstone Village Cohousing
Cambridge, MA

> On Feb 12, 2016, at 2:05 PM, Elizabeth Magill <pastorlizm [at] gmail.com> 
> wrote:
> 
> 
> yea, sure. in a perfect world I agree. but in a perfect world everyone can 
> afford the fees, too.
> 
> What we wanted was to make fees sliding scale. Turns out you can't legally do 
> that with HOA fees. But you can say HOA is just water, septic, sewer, 
> reserves, and plowing.
> 
> So what we gained is about $100 per month flexibility in our costs. 
> Worth it to me.
> 
> 
> -Liz
> (The Rev.) Elizabeth M. Magill
> www.ecclesiaministriesmission.org
> www.mosaic-commons.org
> 508-450-0431
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Feb 12, 2016, at 1:43 PM, Sharon Villines <sharon [at] sharonvillines.com> 
> wrote:
> 
>> 
>> 
>>> On Feb 12, 2016, at 1:02 PM, Elizabeth Magill <pastorlizm [at] gmail.com> 
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> So its a small benefit...but enough to make it so that people's 
>>> frustrations over the increases in the absolutely necessary items can be 
>>> balanced with the decision for some households to spend less on the 
>>> "optional" items without requiring that we go without any option items.
>> 
>> Many people here also define things as “absolutely necessary” and “extra.” 
>> In cohousing, I don’t know how you do this. I believe it’s all the same ball 
>> of wax or it isn’t cohousing.
>> 
>> For example, the commonhouse isn’t “necessary.” All the activities 
>> contribute to the value of individual units. 
>> 
>> The wear and tear on the CH is as much due to “extras” as to “necessary” to 
>> maintain values. Why aren’t those cohousing costs — 50% of repairs and 
>> maintenance of the CH, for example are “extras.”
>> 
>> It seems that when we start talking this way, people discount the importance 
>> of budgeting money to provide part of an otherwise potluck meal. Or 
>> songbooks for group sings. Or furniture for the kids room since not everyone 
>> has kids. 
>> 
>> For years we only had Thrift Shop or hand-me-down furniture in the 
>> guestrooms. The photos I took during a stay at Cornerstone cohousing finally 
>> tipped the balance to purchasing new things that were the right scale for 
>> the relatively small guest rooms. Oddly, some of the accepted hand-me-downs 
>> were being donated because they were too large for people’s units. The rooms 
>> now look much more spacious. The new furniture is white and light Birch 
>> which helps enormously. No dark wood.
>> 
>> The feeling of spaciousness expands to not making divisions between what is 
>> necessary and what is extra. It’s all based on what we want the community to 
>> be or do. We have the conversation over again whenever there is an 
>> unexpected expense but the result is always the same. It’s all cohousing.
>> 
>> Sharon
>> ----
>> Sharon Villines
>> Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
>> http://www.takomavillage.org
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
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> 
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